The Last Petran
by EllaoftheOpera
Summary: A few short years after the Time War, the Doctor is struggling to cope with his extraordinary loss. So, naturally, the TARDIS decides to do something about it. By dropping him off on a peculiar planet, on which resides a peculiar girl, with a peculiar secret. No swearing or sexual content. No pairings (yet). *ON HIATUS*
1. Prologue

Callie could hear the muffled voices of her parents outside her bedroom door.

"We can't put this off any longer, Agathe! The city is in turmoil!"

"This is our daughter we're talking about, Cadmus! Our daughter! I'm not sending her off with some stranger!"

Callie was wide awake now. Something was very wrong. She could feel the fear and worry rolling off her parents in waves. Even at six years old, Callie's telepathic abilities were stronger than most. She concentrated on her parents, and the conversation grew clearer. She could see it in her mind's eye.

"Agathe, any day now, the city will erupt into civil war. We don't have the luxury of time anymore! We need to make a decision!"

Callie could see her father's face, flushed from arguing. Her mother looked close to tears.

"You think I don't know that Cadmus?" she began to cry. Callie watched as her father bundled her mother into his arms and held her as she cried.

 _Mother, are you alright? I'm scared!_ Callie thought. She saw her mother lift her head.

"Callie's awake. She's listening," she said.

 _Everything is alright, Princess. Go back to sleep._ Callie heard in her head. Her parents than mentally blocked her out of the conversation, leaving her with her thoughts.

Callie laid back down on her pillow, staring up at the stars outside her bedroom window. She imagined she was up there with the stars, close enough to touch them. Callie's mind lingered on this scene, soothing her thoughts until she was able to fall back asleep.

ooOOoo

The next day, Callie's mother seemed on edge, as if she were waiting for something bad to happen. She forbade Callie from going outside, saying it would be much too hot out there. That didn't make any sense to Callie because it was always very hot outside. Nevertheless, she did as her mother asked.

Later, Callie was playing with her toys when she heard a knock at the door. Her mother ran to answer it. There was a man at the door, very gruff looking, with a scruffy beard. He gave Callie's mother a hug.

"Agathe! You've not changed a bit!" He said, letting go of her. Callie's mother smiled.

"Neither have you, Seamus." She led him inside. The man walked toward Callie.

"So this is the wee lass, eh? You've grown since I last saw you!" He ruffled her hair. Callie giggled. She liked this man. He talked funny. She voiced her opinion to him.

The man laughed heartily. Before he could say anything more, Callie's mother led him away to talk.

ooOOoo

That night, Callie was woken by her mother gently shaking the bed. She looked scared.

"What's wrong, Mother?" She asked, still groggy with sleep.

Nothing's wrong, princess. I just need you to wake up now." She was holding one of Callie's dresses and her warmest coat. She helped Callie dress and handed her a small backpack.

"We're going to go on a little adventure, okay? Why don't you pick a few things to take with you."

Callie immediately reached behind her and grabbed her teddy bear, Apollo, off the bed and stuffed it in the pack. She walked around her room, taking various items and placing them in her backpack. There was the bracelet her Father had given her, the rock she had found outside… Her mother placed a few items inside the backpack as well. A framed photo of Callie with her parents, a small package wrapped in brown paper, and a thick envelope. Finally, she placed a few of her other dresses in at the top. When the pack was full, she zipped it up and helped Callie put it on. Then she knelt down to her level.

"Callie, I have something for you." She held up a necklace with a smooth, black heart pendant on it. She hooked it around Callie's neck. "Don't ever take this off, okay? Promise me."

"I promise."

Callie took her mother's outstretched hand and followed her out of her room. Her father was outside the door. He picked her up and held her in a tight hug. Callie hugged him back, feeling his sadness creep into her mind.

"Why are you sad, Father?" she asked innocently.

Her father didn't respond. He just held her tightly for a few more seconds, before putting back down. Callie's mother knelt in front of her.

"Callie, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Can you do that?" She asked. Callie nodded.

"You and I are going to take a walk outside. I need you to be very quiet. We can't make any noise, or somebody might wake up. Do you understand?"

Callie nodded again. She understood the meaning of the message. They were sneaking out. They needed to be quiet, or they would be caught. Her mother stood and grasped her hand.

The stars were out, as they always were. There were no clouds to block them.

Callie and her mother crept through the shadows, quiet as mice. Every so often they would pause in an alleyway and her mother would listen. Callie wondered what her mother was listening for. As they walked the empty streets, Callie began to glimpse bits and pieces of the dreams people living there were having. Some were sweet and happy, but many were not. She gripped her mother's hand tighter.

She saw a large open area ahead and wondered what it was. Her mother moved closer. There was a ship docked there, a spaceship. Two big men were loading barrels and crates inside of it. Another man sat and watched. Callie was frightened of the men, who seemed very gruff and scary. Her mother picked her up and held a finger to her lips. Callie nodded in understanding. She watched as her mother picked up a large stone and threw it over the men's heads. It landed on something metal in the distance, making a clunking sound. The two men loading the ship left to investigate, leaving the one man. Callie's mother walked over to him.

"Did you run into any trouble getting here?" he whispered.

"Almost ran straight into a few sentinels, but we managed to get away quick enough."

Callie recognized the man as the one who had visited her home earlier that day. Her mother turned to her.

"Callie, this is Captain O'Connelly. He owns the big ship. Do you remember him?" She nodded.

"Hello, lass." He tipped his hat to her.

"It's not safe here for you anymore. Captain O'Connelly is going to take you away on his ship so you'll be safe." her mother continued, tears welling in her eyes. Callie threw her arms around her mother's neck and began to cry.

"Please don't make me go, mother! I want to stay with you!" she cried.

Callie's mother hugged her tightly for a moment, tears falling from her eyes. After a few seconds, she stood, wiping her eyes.

"Don't you worry, Agathe. I won't let your wee lass out of my sight," he said, giving her a hug. She hugged back.

"Thank you, Seamus. For everything." She turned once more to Callie.

"Promise me something, Callie. Promise me that you'll be brave. Promise me that you'll be brave and that you won't forget about us."

"I promise." Callie sniffed.

Seamus held out his hand to Callie, and she took it. He began leading her up the gangplank, away from her mother. Callie turned back and waved at her mother one last time. Her mother waved back. She watched the man who was like a father to her lead her one and only child, the most precious thing she had, away from her.

"Be safe, my daughter. My precious Calliope."

 **A/N: Hi guys! This is my first ever fanfiction and I'm excited to share it with you! I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but I will try and get the first official chapter up within a weeks time. I don't have a beta because I prefer to proofread my own work, but if you find any mistakes feel free to PM me and I'll fix them. I respect you guys too much to pester you for reviews, but I won't lie, they would be nice. :)**


	2. Chapter 1: The TARDIS's Ruse

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who. If I did, Rose and Ten would still be together, Clara and Danny would still be alive, and Amy and Rory wouldn't get sent back in time. I do, however, own my OC.**

The Doctor trudged half-heartedly through the TARDIS doors and into the console room, tossing his leather jacket onto the jumpseat as he went. He pressed a few buttons on the console before flipping a switch, causing the TARDIS to emit its familiar groaning sound. Sighing, he sat back onto the jumpseat, settling deep into his thoughts.

It had only been a few short years since that fateful day when the Doctor had ended it all. He hadn't been the same since. For a while, it seemed like things would be okay. He'd run around, save a planet or two, and still be back in time for tea. But everytime things started to look up, the Doctor would come crashing down again, just as he was now.

The TARDIS had kept watch over him the entire time. Every day, she observed him. She had decided, at first, to let him be, and give him time to grieve. She watched him cry, silently, when he thought she wasn't looking. She watched him go days without food or sleep, waiting only until he could go no longer. She listened to his thoughts of self-loathing and hatred. And, on one terrible night, she watched him as he counted, as he calculated exactly how many children there were on Gallifrey that horrible day.

Now, several years later, the Doctor had made little progress in the field of his mental health. Every day, he would wake up from his unsuccessful attempts at sleep and either half-heartedly save a planet, or sit in the pit of self-loathing he'd dug for himself over the past few years. It was almost as if he didn't want to feel better. Or perhaps, he felt he was unworthy. Whatever the reason, the TARDIS decided that he wasn't going to wallow in self-pity any longer. She'd make sure of that. All she had to do was put her plan into motion.

The Doctor let out an audible sigh, echoing around the silent console room, before standing and stretching his arms above his head. After retrieving his leather jacket, he began to make his way to the library.

The Doctor hadn't had a good night's rest in many years. He was constantly plagued by nightmares. As such, he rarely slept. When he did try to sleep, he never got more than one or two hours in before being woken by the terrors of his subconscious. The last time he had attempted to sleep was over a week ago. He was running on fumes, but couldn't bring himself to care. Living in a state of constant exhaustion was much better than whatever horrors his mind could produce, he reasoned. He spent most of his nights in the library, trying to leave behind the reality he had locked himself into and enter an alternate one, one where he was free from the horrors of his past.

After a few minutes of searching, he found the door he was looking for and pulled it open. He stared at the room inside, confused. The TARDIS had rearranged the layout, switching out the library with the kitchen. On the counter was a sandwich and mug of still steaming tea.

"What are you doing, old girl?" he mumbled under his breath. He shut the door.

The Doctor continued searching for the library to no avail. Every door he entered led into the kitchen, with that same sandwich and steaming mug of tea waiting for him on the counter. The TARDIS wasn't planning on letting the Doctor leave until he'd gotten some food in him. The Doctor tried a few more doors before throwing up his hands in defeat.

"Alright, fine! You win! I'll eat something! Are you happy now?" He shouted.

The TARDIS whirred triumphantly as the Doctor walked into the kitchen and finally sat down at the counter. With an air of defeat, he picked up his mug of tea and took a sip. It tasted different. Perhaps he'd gotten the wrong brand? He didn't pay it any mind after that and managed to drink the whole mug and choke down half the sandwich.

"There. I ate. Can I please go now?" he asked frustratedly.

Before the TARDIS could answer, the Doctor felt his eyelids start to droop. The room around him began to spin.

"What did you put in that tea?" He asked, confused.

He felt the TARDIS in the back of his mind, nudging him toward the door. He stumbled toward it. After a few tries, he was able to correctly maneuver his extremities to get the door open. The TARDIS had moved his bedroom across the hall. The door was already open. He just barely managed to make it through the door before tumbling straight onto his bed. The last thing he heard before he fell dead asleep was the TARDIS whirring in satisfaction.

ooOOoo

The Doctor awoke to the familiar wheezing, groaning sound of the TARDIS materializing. He sat up and stretched. He hadn't had a sleep like that in a long while. Whatever the TARDIS had put in his tea had certainly done its job. He slid out of bed, still groggy, and headed toward the console room to see where the TARDIS had taken him.

They had landed on a small planet no larger than the Earth's moon. It was a trade planet, a place where people could go to trade goods. The entire planet was one big marketplace, with trade ships coming and going all the time. There were no indigenous species, no landmarks, nothing special at all. It was exactly the same as the other thousand trade planets scattered throughout the universe. So why had the TARDIS brought him to this specific one?

"Why did you bring me here? There's nothing wrong, the planet's not in trouble. Let's go someplace else."

He punched in a new destination and pulled the switch, but nothing happened. The TARDIS was dead set on the Doctor visiting this planet. He sighed.

"All right, I'll go have a look. But only for a few minutes, then we're leaving."

He strode toward the TARDIS doors and poked his head out. Almost immediately, he felt it. The reason the TARDIS wanted him here. There was a strong telepathic presence on this planet. Normally, the Doctor wouldn't think anything of it. There were plenty of telepathic species in the universe, and he'd met nearly all of them. But this was different. This was much stronger than anything he'd ever encountered, stronger than even him. As far as he knew, there was only one race who produced telepaths with stronger abilities than Time Lords, and they were gone. The entire race had perished during a period of civil war. But if that was the case, then what was he sensing?

The Doctor brought his head back into the TARDIS and was about to open the doors properly, but he stopped. This was the first time in years that he had felt like his old self, curious and adventurous. But he wasn't sure if he was ready to completely throw himself back into exploring the universe. The way he saw it, he had two choices. He could stay inside and avoid anything that could send him down the road he was on when he destroyed Gallifrey, or he could open the door and act like his old self again, no matter the risk. The Doctor pondered a moment before making his decision.

He put a smile on his face, threw open the TARDIS doors, and confidently strode outside.

 **A/N: Yes! I actually met my own deadline! Go me! Some of you have been wondering how often I'll be updating this story. I'm planning on updating once a week, most likely on Sunday because that's when I have the most time to write and revise and whatnot. I was also asked if this will be a Doctor/OC pairing. I was originally going to keep the relationship between the Doctor and my OC platonic, but I am considering having them get together. What do you guys think I should do? Tell me in a review or PM and whatever response I get the most of is what I will do!**


	3. Chapter 2: A Peculiar Girl

The minute the Doctor exited the TARDIS, he was hit with a blast of heat. This particular trade planet was rather small (it was more like a very large moon, really) and was located within the orbit of two different suns, making it extremely hot all year round. The temperature was consistently above 135 degrees, making the planet inhospitable for most species. Even with the Doctor's ability to regulate his body temperature, he wouldn't be able to stay on this planet for more than an hour or two.

Leaving his leather jacket in the TARDIS, the Doctor set off toward the large marketplace in the distance, fiddling with his sonic as he went. He adjusted several of the settings before activating it, causing it to emit a faint blue light and a low humming sound. In theory, the light would grow brighter the closer he got to the telepathic source, as if he were playing a game of hot and cold.

As he entered the marketplace, the light began to grow brighter and the humming sound louder. He walked along, paying more attention to the sonic then to where he was walking. He bumped into several people as he went, muttering a half-hearted apology before continuing on his journey. He would wave the sonic higher, lower, more to left or more to the right, trying his best to locate the source signal. The Doctor supposed he must look rather funny, waving his sonic about like a magic wand.

He turned a few more corners, the light glowing much brighter now, and noticed a group of teenage boys in the middle of the way. As he got closer, he could hear them chanting.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" They shouted in unison.

The Doctor saw two young boys in the middle of the group, looking very nervous. A few of the teenage boys surrounded them, pushing them toward one another.

"Go ahead, then, fight!" said the tallest of the boys. "Or are you too chicken?"

The boys looked up at him, confused. The Doctor realized that even though the TARDIS was translating everything they said into English, they were speaking different Earth languages. He could hear a few of the older boys speaking Portuguese, some of them speaking Spanish, and even a few speaking Italian. The two young boys in the middle were speaking to each other in Greek.

The Doctor strode over to the group, intending to interfere, when he heard someone else shout.

"Hey!" A teenage girl emerged from behind one of the market stalls. She had long brown hair pulled back in a long braid that reached her waist and fair skin. Her crystal blue eyes were blazing with anger as she made her way over to the group. "What do you think you're doing?" she yelled in Portuguese.

"We're just having a little fun, is all. None of your business," replied the tall boy.

The girl scowled at him. "It became my business when you and your friends decided to exploit these two boys for your own personal entertainment."

The boy smirked. "Well then, what do you intend to do about it? Cause the way I see it, there are quite a few of us and one of you."

"I intend to make you regret your decision and apologize to these two." She gestured toward the two young boys.

"And just how are you going to do that?"

It was the girl's turn to smirk. "Well let's see what I can do, shall we?" She closed her eyes.

The Doctor watched as the grin slipped off the boy's face and turned into a grimace.

"Hey, what are you doing to my head? Quit it!" He cried out, placing his hands over his ears.

"I'm searching through your mind. It's a little uncomfortable at first, but you shouldn't be in any pain." She grinned. "Oh, look at this! You still wet the bed!"

The rest of the boys began to laugh.

"Dude, you wet the bed?" One of the other boys snickered. The girl turned her attention to him.

"I see your mother dressing you in tights and sending you to ballet."

"I was six!" He cried. The other boys were howling with laughter.

"Sure, you think that's funny now," the girl said casually, "but what about when I tell all of your parents what you do when you sneak out every night?"

The boys became silent. The tall boy stepped forward, glowering.

"How do you know about that?" He said, teeth clenched.

"I know about everything now," she replied, turning and looking at each of the boys in turn. "All of your dirty little secrets. And I'll tell everyone. Your parents, your friends, your teachers. Everyone will know. Unless," she gestured once more toward the two small boys, "you apologize to those two and promise not to do this again."

She repeated her sentiment in Italian and Spanish, to make sure everyone heard her clearly. One by one, each of the boys mumbled an apology.

She nodded. "Good. Now get out of here!" She pointed a finger away from her.

All of the older boys shuffled off, scowling. She approached the two small boys.

"Are you two all right?" She asked in fluent Greek.

They nodded. She smiled. "Good. If they ever try to do that again, you come and find me and I'll take care of them, okay?"

They nodded again. She stood, ruffling each of their heads, and watched as they ran off.

The Doctor had been so caught up in the little drama that had just happened that he didn't notice his sonic screwdriver pinging, signifying that he had reached the source. He deactivated it, placed it in his pocket and walked over to the teenage girl. She looked at him.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor. I couldn't help but notice how you broke up that fight. How many languages do you speak? I believe I heard Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and Greek," He replied casually in Greek.

The girl eyed him warily. The Doctor could feel her probing at the edge of his mind, trying to get in. Her eyes widened.

"You're a Time Lord," she said, shocked. "But they were all wiped out during the Time War! How-"

"Never mind that," He snapped. The Time War was still a touchy subject. However, he shouldn't have snapped at her like that.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have snapped at you. The Time War is a bit of a touchy subject for me."

She nodded in understanding. "That's okay, I get it." She thought for a second. "To answer your question, Greek is my first language, but I also speak English, Spanish, French, Latin, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian, and Romanian."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Why so many?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Languages have always come easily to me. I want to learn as many as I can, so I can talk to as many people as I can. I've tried learning a few alien languages, but I can't make the noises right. My tongue gets in the way."

The Doctor chuckled. "You're certainly a very learned young woman. What's your name?"

"If you want the answer to that question, you need to answer a few for me first. Deal?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Okay then. First off, what are you actually doing here? I'm pretty sure you didn't land on this rock just to come watch me mentally beat up a couple of knucklehead teenage boys."

"The TARDIS brought me here. That's my ship," he added, seeing her look of confusion. "It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. She decided I was needed here, so here I am."

The girl nodded. "Okay, second question. What is that thing you have in your pocket and why were you using it to try and find me?"

The Doctor was taken aback. "How did you know I was trying to find you?" He asked.

"I sensed another telepath on the planet earlier. I'm assuming that that telepath is you." He nodded. She continued. "The first thing I did after I felt your presence was to try and find you. I sensed you were a strong telepath, strong enough to sense me as well, and I knew I was the only telepath here before you came, so I figured you would be curious enough to want to find me too." She gestured to the area where the teenage boys had been standing before. "I ended up finding that fight before I found you."

"But how did you know I was using the sonic to try and find you?" He asked, still confused.

"It got brighter every time I took a step closer to it," She replied.

The Doctor just shook his head, amazed. "I'm impressed. To answer your question, the thing in my pocket is called a sonic screwdriver."

"What does it do?" She asked, curious.

"Pretty much anything," The Doctor answered honestly. "Except it doesn't work on wood. Or deadlocks."

"So it's basically just a totally beefed up Swiss army knife, then," She mused.

The Doctor laughed. "I've never heard it put that way, but I suppose you're right." He grinned at her. "Have I answered all your questions yet?"

"Almost," she replied. "I have one more." She leaned in conspiratorially, as if she was going to ask something she didn't want others around them hearing. The Doctor leaned closer as well, close enough to hear her whisper her question in his ear.

"What's your favorite color?" She had the biggest smile on her face, trying her hardest not to laugh.

The Doctor leaned over and whispered his answer into her ear.

"Blue." Then they both burst out laughing, causing some of the other people around them to eye them strangely.

"My name… is… Callie… Lockewood…" She said, trying to catch her breath after laughing so hard.

"Well, Callie Lockewood, it's nice to finally call you by your name." The Doctor grinned.

She smiled. "It's nice to finally trust someone enough to tell them my name."

Before the Doctor could ask Callie what she meant by that, he saw the grin on her face turn to a look of horror, before she shouted, "DUCK!"

Both she and the Doctor fell to the ground just as a projectile whizzed past their heads, hitting the market stall behind them and causing it to burst into flames.

 **A/N: Ha ha, my first ever cliffhanger! Now I know why writers do this, it's fun leaving your audience guessing! :D**

 **So last week I asked all of you whether or not you wanted the Doctor and my OC Callie to get together or if you wanted their relationship to be platonic. Well, nobody replied. So I made the decision on my own. Their relationship is staying platonic. I like it better this way anyway. I'm a horrible romance writer.**

 **In other news, I'm trying to get set up as a beta. I'm not one yet, I still have a few requirements to fulfill, but I'm getting there. I'll let you guys know when it's all set and official.**

 **I've almost finished season 9 of Doctor Who and *(spoiler if you haven't finished this season yet!)* Clara died! I got so mad! My best friend and I spent a good hour or so brainstorming ways to get back at the writers of the show. So far, our best idea is going to London and TPing Steven Moffat's house. If any of you have any ideas (or would simply like to air your grievances about the writers of the show) please PM me or put it in a review. I need all the help I can get.**

 **Please let me know what you think of this fic! I love constructive criticism! See you all next Sunday!**


	4. Chapter 3: Callie's Story

The Doctor's first instinct was to protect Callie, but she was already on her feet once more, dragging him up by his hand.

"Come on!" She screamed. "We have to get out of here!" She pointed behind him at two hulking figures dressed in black leather, carrying rather large guns.

The Doctor didn't need to be told twice. He grasped her hand tighter and ran, letting her take the lead. She led him down an alleyway and into a busier section of the marketplace. Suddenly, he heard her voice in his head.

 _Keep your head down_ , she cautioned. _These people don't take kindly to strangers. They'll blow our cover in a heartbeat._

 _How are you doing this? I have a mental wall built up. How did you bypass it?_

 _The same way anybody bypasses a wall. I went over it._

 _How on Gallifrey…? Nevermind, we'll figure that out later. Why is the local law enforcement after you?_

 _It's a long story…_

Turning abruptly, Callie led the Doctor down an alley and into a different part of town. This part wasn't large and airy, like the main marketplace, but was dingy and dirty. Small shops were set up here and there along the edge of a narrow corridor. She made a few more turns, leading to a large building. She walked around the building until she got to the back. Hidden behind a few trees were the doors to a storm shelter. Finally letting go of the Doctor's hand, Callie pulled a small silver key from around her neck. Using the key, she unlocked a small padlock on the storm doors and pulled them open. She gestured inside.

"Come on inside. It's not much at all, really, but it's home."

The Doctor slowly made his way down the stairs and into the storm shelter. It was dark and dank, lit only by a few strings of lights on the ceiling. There was a small pile of blankets in one corner. In another, spread out on a blanket, were several articles of clothing, a few books, and some other small knick-knacks. Next to the blanket, a small, child-sized backpack was propped up.

In the last corner was two boxes. The Doctor took a peek at the larger cardboard one and saw fruit and other food. But what really intrigued him was the smaller box.

The box was made of wood and was very worn, but well-taken care of. There was a flowery design etched into the top of it, and the lid was held closed by a small silver clasp.

The Doctor reached down to pick it up so he could examine it, but Callie beat him to the punch. She scooped the box into her arms.

"Please don't touch my memory box. Everything I have left in the world is in here." She said quietly, clutching the box to her chest.

The Doctor nodded. He moved to sit down on one of the many blankets strewn about the small room. Callie did the same, still holding her box.

The Doctor broke the silence. "Well, seeing as you are being hunted by the law, and I have been seen helping you, we should probably lay low here for a while. That gives us plenty of time for you to explain yourself."

"Who, me? What is there to explain?" she replied nonchalantly.

"I answered your questions, I think it's time you answered some of mine." He gave her a pointed look.

Callie sighed resignedly. "What do you want to know?"

"Well first of all," he started, "I want to know why we are being chased by a couple of thugs dressed in black leather."

"I stole from a few of the market stalls," Callie replied. "They don't take kindly to stealing here. The penalties are pretty harsh. But I was starving, and I didn't have any other choice." She looked down, ashamed. "I hate stealing from people. They don't deserve it. If I had any other choice I would take it."

The Doctor's face softened at her answer. "Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do in order to keep going," he replied quietly. He was silent for a moment. "How did you get inside my head earlier? You shouldn't have been able to do that without a significant amount of mental concentration, and you did it with minimal effort."

"I already told you, I climbed over your mental wall. That's the only way I know how to explain it." She replied. "I've never met a mind I couldn't enter."

"That's impossible!" He exclaimed. "Time Lords have the ability to block others out of their minds. There is no possible explanation for how you did that so fast."

"Well let's try this then. Build up your wall, as strong as you can get it. Then I'll try and get in again."

The Doctor closed his eyes and built up his mental wall to try and block Callie out. He could feel her trying to get in, looking for a way around his wall. Then he heard it.

 _Boo!_ She shouted in his head. His eyes snapped open. Callie was staring at him, grinning triumphantly.

"How…?" The Doctor was speechless. In all of his 900 years, he'd never met another living being that could get past his mental wall that easily. And this girl had done it in minutes.

"Told you so." She said, still grinning.

"What are you?" He said, still in shock.

Callie sobered. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She told him truthfully.

The Doctor snorted. "I've been all over the universe. I've seen all manner of strange creatures and phenomena. Nothing you say to me will surprise me."

"You wanna bet?" Callie mumbled. She took a deep breath. "If you really want to know, you have to promise not to tell. If word got out about me, I'd be in serious danger. Do you understand?"

The Doctor nodded. He stared at her intently, waiting.

"Okay, here goes." She took another deep breath. "I'm from a very small planet. You probably haven't even heard of it. It's called Mavri Petra." she began. "It's Greek. It means 'black rock', which is a pretty accurate description of the planet. It's even smaller than this one. It doesn't have an atmosphere at all, so the only settlement on the planet is built inside a large air-filled dome. We called it Eirini. That means peace. But honestly, that place was anything but peaceful.

"We had a saying on Petra. 'All telepaths are Petran, but not all Petrans are telepaths'. Only about 500 out of the city's entire population of 12,000 were telepathic. Telepathy is hereditary there. But the telepaths and the non-telepaths never really got along very well. I never actually understood why until later on."

She paused her story briefly. The Doctor was enthralled with the story. She continued.

"When one telepathic being and one non-telepathic being have a baby, that baby will inherit full telepathic powers. But if two telepathic beings have a baby, that baby will inherit both of its parent's full powers and become an even more powerful telepath than before. People were afraid that the telepaths would grow powerful enough to take over the city. So a law was passed. A telepath can marry another telepath, but they were not allowed to have children. This law was in place for many years.

"My parents were high ranking officials in the Petran government. They were well liked and respected in their community. They were both also telepaths. My parents, like many others before them, believed that the law against having children was unfair, and decided to go against it. That's how I came about.

"My parents managed to hide me away from the world until I was around 3 years old. Another government official came to the house and saw me. My mother managed to convince him that I was the daughter of one of her friends and that she was just watching me for the day. She was more careful about letting me roam around after that.

"When I was 5, rumors of Civil War between telepaths and non-telepaths started circulating around the city. Everything was very tense all the time, but nothing ever actually happened until about a year later. A riot broke out, right in front of our house. I remember looking out my bedroom window and seeing all of the people in the street below. I remember watching them hurt each other, and I remember the shouting and screaming."

A single tear ran down Callie's face.

"After that night, things were never the same. The government imposed a curfew and stationed sentinels around the city to keep an eye on the telepathic community. Nothing was enforced for the non-telepaths though. About a week after that, my mother woke me up in the middle of the helped me pack my backpack with some clothes and a few items of personal value. That backpack, right there." She pointed toward the child-sized backpack propped up in the corner.

"After that, she led me out of the house and down the street to the docks. There was a spaceship waiting there, along with one of my mother's old friends, a man named Seamus O'Connelly. He was a great friend to my mother, and to me."

Another tear.

"He led me aboard his ship and took me away from Petra. That was the last time I saw my planet, and my mother. A few days after that, war broke out. It was all ended when the air dome cracked after a bomb exploded near it. Everyone was killed instantly."

The tears were falling freely now. Callie did nothing to stop them.

I stayed with Seamus for a few years. We landed on this planet to do some trading. Poor man, his aging body wasn't accustomed to this heat. He passed away while we were here. I've been here for about 350 years."

The Doctor's eyes widened at this statement. "You've been here how long? How old are you?"

"Physically, I'm around 17 or 18 years old. I've lost track a bit. But in all actuality, I'm around 600 years old. Petrans live extremely long lives, you know. My life expectancy is around five to six thousand years." Callie crying had reduced the sniffling by this point.

"My goodness. You've been alone, on your own, for 350 years?" The Doctor asked.

Callie nodded. "Yeah. It's hard, watching the little kids all around you grow up and get married and have kids of their own, and then grandkids, and then pass away, all while hardly aging a day."

The Doctor was silent for a moment before blurting it out. "Come with me."

It was Callie's turn to widen her eyes. "Come with you where? What do you mean?"

"Come with me in my ship, in the TARDIS. I go all over the universe. There's so much to see and do. And," he said, taking her hand in his, "my life expectancy is the much longer yours. You won't have to watch me age before your eyes. So how about it?"

Callie was speechless for a moment. A complete stranger, a time lord no doubt, was asking her to abandon her home and leave with him indefinitely to explore the universe. So she did what any rational person would do when faced with such a dilemma.

She said yes.

 **A/N: Yes! Another chapter finished! And let's be honest here, who here among us Whovians would say no if the Doctor asked us to come with him? Next chapter should see Callie meeting the TARDIS. That's going to be lots of fun to write! I should be all set up as a beta within the next week or so. I can't wait to help you guys make your stories better!**

 **3/14/18 UPDATE: I took some of your guys' comments into consideration. I fixed the Doctor's lifespan to be much longer than six thousand years, and I fixed the explanation of why Callie can get into the Doctor's head so easily.**

 **And now, as always, I must bid you adieu. Allonsy!**


	5. Chapter 4: A Close Call

The Doctor sat on the mound of blankets and watched as Callie packed her few belongings into the child-sized backpack. He could tell from her precise movements that this was not the first time she had packed hurriedly and left on a whim. He felt a pang of sadness, thinking about how many times she had to have done this to escape being found out. He watched her carefully wrap her small wooden box in an old, ragged blanket, and set it gently inside the backpack. Then, she slung the pack on her back and stood up, grabbing a sheet of parchment the Doctor hadn't previously seen.

"Okay, so where is this ship of yours?" she queried.

"She's outside the main marketplace," he answered.

She?" Callie asked, confused.

"Yes, she," the Doctor replied, standing from the blanket pile. "The TARDIS is, well, a bit different from most ships. You'll understand when you see it."

Callie shrugged. "Okay then." She held out the piece of paper. "This is a map of the general vicinity. I drew it myself."

The Doctor took the map from Callie and studied it. It was a roughly drawn map of the marketplace, with several red, green, and yellow circles, and a blue star. "What do these symbols mean?"

"The red circles are areas that the police like to hang out. We need to avoid those areas like the alien plague. The yellow circles are areas with vendors I've taken things from. They won't hesitate to report me, so I try to avoid them, too. The green circles are safe places to hide. And the blue star is here.

"The trick here is getting out of the marketplace without being seen. I had a route I normally took when I needed to get out of the city, but one of the vendors saw me and reported me, so the police watch that area now. I've been eluding them for years, and there's a pretty big bounty on my head now, so I have to be more careful than I usually am. I did find a small tunnel here," she pointed to a spot on the map, "but I doubt you'd be small enough to fit through.

"The way I see it, the only other way out is past the guards at the front gate, where you came in." she sighed. "I have this trick I can try and do to get us past them without suspicion. I can sort of block their thoughts when they see me, so they don't register that I'm there until after I've gone, but it takes an obscene amount of effort. Last time I tried I passed out. So I'm classifying that as a last resort. What we really need is some sort of distraction."

Callie pointed to one of the yellow circles on the map that was near the market exit. "This is the stall I steal most of my food from. If the stall owner sees somebody stealing food, he'll shout, and the guards at the exit will come running, cause they're the closest. Now, what I've learned about this guy is that he gets stolen from a lot, so if he even thinks somebody is going to steal from him, he'll call the guards. All we have to do is toss a couple of stones to knock some stuff over and we'll be good."

Callie pocketed the map. "Any questions?"

"Yeah. How do you know all this?"

"I got bored one day," she answered vaguely.

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask another question, but thought better of it and shut his mouth again. Callie walked toward the door leading outside and opened it a crack, peeking through.

"The coast is clear. Let's go."

ooOOoo

Callie and the Doctor rejoined the throng of people at the market's center, making sure to keep a low profile. Every once and awhile she would direct him down a separate back street to avoid a specific vendor, and once she pulled him into an alcove at the back of a building to hide from a rogue policeman. But their journey through the marketplace was, for the most part, uneventful.

That is until they were spotted by an eagle-eyed vendor that wasn't on Callie's 'avoid at all costs' list.

They had nearly reached the exit. Callie had stopped to pick up a few stones in preparation for what was to come when a piercing whistle was heard above the normal market din.

"There! There! She's over there!" Somebody shouted. Upon further inspection, it was the owner of the market stall across the way.

"Shoot," Callie mumbled under her breath. The police had already come from the opposite direction of the exit, meaning the guards were still there. If they ran that direction, they'd be trapped.

The Doctor immediately pulled out his sonic and pointed it at their weapons. They fizzled and popped, rendered completely useless. The Doctor turned to grab Callie's hand only to find she wasn't there. He found her hiding behind an abandoned booth for cover, chucking rocks at her assailants. One of the rocks hit a policeman head on, knocking him to the ground. She stared, horrified, as several more police officers came up behind him and charged at her. Before they could grab her, however, the Doctor had run past and scooped her up. He sprinted around the other side of the building before setting her back on her feet. He clasped her hand, and they took off running.

They came to the exit of the market only to find several more guards waiting for them. Apparently, they had been tipped off that they would be trying to escape.

Callie watched as the guards ran toward her from on side, and the policeman from the other. She sighed heavily. "I'm so going to regret this…" she muttered.

The Doctor observed Callie as she closed her eyes. Just before all of the police converged on them, they froze, their faces going blank. Callie's eyes were scrunched up in concentration, her hands holding her head. She stumbled to her knees.

"Doctor…" she hissed through her teeth. "Carry me."

The Doctor got the message. He picked her up, bridal style, and carried her through the mass of guards and policeman. They exited the marketplace, beads of sweat rolling down Callie's face.

It wasn't until they were far enough away that the guards wouldn't be able to catch up that Callie released her hold on them. She gasped, panting for breath.

"Did... I...do...it?" She asked between labored breaths.

"Yes, you did it. We won't have to worry about them anymore." He replied quietly, trying to keep her from further head pain.

Callie turned her head so her eyes were hidden in the Doctor's shoulder. "S'too bright…"

The Doctor chuckled. "Just rest, we'll be there soon."

Callie was silent after that, her head still buried in the Doctor's shoulder. He shifted her weight in his arms, lost in thought. It had been quite a while since he'd had a companion. And this girl would make a terrific one, he could already tell. But would he be a good companion for her? They were kindred spirits, both alone in the world. Perhaps they were both exactly what the other needed.

The Doctor saw the TARDIS in the distance and walked a little faster. Despite being able to regulate his body temperature, he was stiflingly hot. How Callie was able to live here so long without being bothered by the heat was a mystery to him.

Finally, he reached the TARDIS. She opened the doors for him, listening to his content sigh as a wave of cool air hit him. She watched as he carried the girl, the one she sent him for, around the console and down the hall to the med bay. He gently laid her down on the cot in the med bay and hooked her up to a heart monitor. If she didn't wake up in the next hour, he decided he would hook her up to an IV as well, to make sure she didn't get dehydrated. He sat back against the wall and sighed, looking upward.

"Well, old girl, I suppose you were right in sending me here after all. Thank you for taking me here."

The TARDIS hummed gently, then nudged him mentally toward his bedroom, and, more specifically, his en-suite. The Doctor laughed.

"What's the matter, old girl? Don't want me getting sweat all over the place?"

She nudged him once again, before dimming the lights in the med bay. The Doctor glanced back at the still unconscious Callie, before responding. "All right, I'll go get cleaned up. Keep an eye on her for me, okay? Let me know when she wakes up."

The TARDIS hummed affirmatively. The Doctor took one last look back at Callie, before walking out of the med bay and down the hall.

ooOOoo

The first sense Callie was aware of was sound. She heard a sort of humming, whirring sound. It was soft, calming. Then she regained smell. It smelled like she was in some sort of hospital, sort of clinical, with lots of disinfectants. Then, she was suddenly aware of soft sheets and an even softer pillow, cushioning her head. Finally, her eyelids fluttered open to reveal a stark white room, with lots of cupboards and shelves holding all sorts of medical devices, many of which were completely unrecognizable to the girl.

Groaning, Callie slowly sat up on her cot, holding her head. She couldn't quite remember what she had done to cause such a headache, but it must have been pretty bad. It was only then that she noticed the presence in her head.

The presence was gentle, caring, almost motherly. It took Callie a moment to realize that this calming presence was actually the ship she currently resided in. Tentatively, Callie called out to the presence.

 _Who are you?_

The presence didn't respond. It only gave her a nudge toward the door, indicating that she should leave. Callie obeyed, although she wasn't quite sure why. She had only just discovered this presence, why was she already listening to and trusting it?

Once Callie stood up off the rolling cot, the room began to sway. She fell back against the cot, causing it to tip over and make a loud bang. Callie just stayed where she was, too tired to try again.

A moments later, the Doctor burst into the room with a worried expression on his face. The worry became more prominent when he noticed Callie on the floor next to the overturned cot.

"Callie! Are you alright? Did you fall off the cot?"

"No," she said slowly, "I tried standing up and the room started to spin."

The Doctor frowned while he helped Callie back onto the cot. She laid her head back down on the pillow and closed her eyes, sighing.

"You said you had tried to block a person's thoughts before, right? How many people did you try it on before?" he asked, tentatively.

"Maybe three, I think," she replied without opening her eyes.

The Doctor was dumbfounded. "You tried it on three people and you passed out? Then why on Gallifrey would you try it on almost twenty policemen and guards? Do you know what kind of damage that could do to you? You're lucky to be conscious right now! Most people would have died after that much exertion!"

Callie just shrugged. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not most people."

The Doctor sighed. "I know that, believe me. You're unlike any other being I've met in my admittedly very long life. You're an enigma. But," he emphasized, "you are not immortal. You can die just like everybody else can. And it's hard enough protecting the people I care about without them jumping in the line of fire."

Callie could sense a wealth of meaning behind those words, but decided against asking about it. Neither of them was in the right frame of mind for that kind of a conversation. So she changed the subject.

"Do you have any aspirin? My head is killing me."

The Doctor cringed. "No, no aspirin. Aspirin is very bad, Callie. Very, very bad. Aspirin to a Time Lord is like cyanide to a human. Poisonous, and fatal." He rummaged through one of the many cabinets in the room, before pulling out a small, white bottle. "I do, however, have ibuprofen."

Callie gratefully took the pill bottle, tipping two of the small, round pills into her hand. The Doctor handed her a water bottle, which she used to take the pills. She sighed and laid back on the pillow. The Doctor pulled the blanket back over Callie.

"Get some rest," he said, " we'll talk more when you're feeling better."

 **A/N: Hey guys! I'm officially set up as a beta now! Go check out my beta profile! I love helping people improve their writing! Sorry about the later posting of this chapter. I meant to post it earlier today, but I didn't have it written in time.**

 **Reviews are like chocolate to me, and who doesn't love chocolate? Please review and let me know what you think! I'm always open to new ideas and concepts and I love constructive criticism! Until next week, I bid you adieu. Allons-y!**


	6. Chapter 5: Playing Dress Up

Callie awoke several hours later, her headache nearly gone. She sat up on the small cot and stretched her arms over her head, listening to the small pops her joints made as they slid back into place. She cast her gaze around the med bay, her eyes landing on the door. What lay beyond it, she wondered? There was only one way to find out.

Callie's hand unconsciously made its way to the small, black heart pendant around her neck and began to rub it, a nervous habit of hers. The rough rock had been rubbed smooth by Callie's ministrations over the years. After checking to make sure that the necklace was still safely tucked beneath her thin dress, she strode toward the door and opened it a crack, peeking her head out.

The hallway the med bay was located in was a brownish orange color, with coral-like structures connecting at the junctions where the ceiling met the walls. Callie stepped out of the med bay toward one of the structures and placed her hand on it. The presence in the back of her head grew more prominent. She could hear, no, feel the TARDIS humming contentedly at her. Callie smiled.

"I don't know if you are able to understand me, but I think you are magnificent," she told the sentient ship. She looked down at herself. She was sweaty, her clothes and hair covered with sand. "I don't suppose you could tell me where I could go to take a shower and change my clothes?"

The TARDIS whirred softly and gave her a gentle nudge to the left. Callie turned and walked in that direction, her eyes glancing from door to door as she made her way down the hallway. Each of the doors differed in size and shape, and sometimes even composition. One thing Callie noticed right away was that none of the doors were made of wood. Thinking back, she remembered something the Doctor had said about his Sonic Screwdriver not working on wood. She wondered if that had something to do with it.

Finally, the TARDIS gave Callie the indication that she should stop. She stopped outside a large door with strange circular markings on it.

"This door?" She asked. Callie felt a reaffirming hum in the back of her mind.

"All right, then. Let's go inside." She pushed the door open and was amazed at what she saw.

The room she was in was several stories tall. Everywhere she looked, there were clothes. Dresses, scarves, blouses, pants, shoes, hats, and anything else she could think of were scattered throughout with little sense of organization. Callie could see clothes from Victorian England, the wild west, the renaissance, and every other historic period in between. She felt a mix of shock and awe, gazing at the all of the apparel.

Her eyes were drawn toward a section of the room containing ball gowns. Beautiful dresses of all colors and patterns were hung on hooks, and a few were on dressmakers mannequins. Callie immediately gravitated toward a pale yellow gown. She fingered the material. The skirt was made of layers upon layers of silvery tulle and soft yellow silk, with rhinestones strewn throughout. The bodice was made of the same yellow silk, with sleeves extending three-quarters of the way down the mannequin's arm.

Seeing this dress reminded Callie of the parties her mother and father used to throw, such a very long time ago. She remembered one party where her mother wore a dress similar to this one, but not nearly as fine. Callie was surprised to feel a tear slide down her cheek. She swiped at her eyes. What was she doing, crying over a dress? She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the memories, and, reluctantly, left the ball gowns in search of something more practical.

On the other side of the room was a section containing more casual dresses. After rifling through them, Callie pulled out a violet one with short sleeves and buttons running up the front. She held it up to her petite frame, trying to gauge the size. She decided it would work. Smiling, she wandered around the room, looking for other things to try.

ooOOoo

A good thirty minutes later, Callie had found some leggings in a pale lavender to go under her dress and was able to divine a pair of white converse sneakers from a large pile in the middle of the room. Why somebody would need that many pairs of sneakers eluded her. She was now searching for socks, but could not for the life of her find where they were kept. She had already found several strange objects in the areas which she searched, including a very long, very colorful scarf (which she was currently wearing), an umbrella with a red question mark on it, and a suit coat with something she assumed used to be celery pinned on the lapel. Whatever it was, it was definitely NOT celery now.

"The Doctor sure has odd taste in clothes…" she murmured to herself whilst searching through a bureau drawer. Alas, the drawer did not contain socks, but numerous pairs of glasses. There were opera glasses, sunglasses, and even an odd looking pair of 3D glasses. Callie picked them up and put them on. Then she shut the drawer and continued her search elsewhere.

"What was that about my taste in clothes?"

Callie whirled around, the ends of the long scarf nearly whipping her in the face. The Doctor was standing behind her, a smirk on his face.

"Because if we're talking about fashion sense, let's be honest here. Yours seems much more eclectic than mine."

Callie grinned sheepishly. Whilst searching for socks, she had found a multitude of odd garments and had taken to putting them on so as not to lose them. At that moment, she was wearing a bright yellow pair of striped trousers, over which was a plaid kilt. In addition to that, she wore a navy blue tee with yellow and red stripes and a velvety green suit coat. Around her neck was tied a small red and black cape. There was a pair of bright red converse sneakers on her feet (no socks, unfortunately), and the red question mark umbrella was propped against the bureau next to her. The celery suit coat, which she had deemed too gross to even think about wearing, was in a heap next to it, along with a navy blue and red trench coat and one of the Doctor's leather jackets. The scarf and 3D glasses completed the odd ensemble. And on her head, she wore…

"Is that a fez?" asked the Doctor. "Why do I even have that? I would never wear a fez."

Callie shrugged. "It was in a box with a bunch of bow ties. The box had the number 11 on it. Ring a bell?"

"No. I don't really spend a lot of time in here. The TARDIS," he raised his voice as if to make sure the TARDIS could hear him, "is supposed to keep things organized!"

The TARDIS whirred indignantly. Callie laughed.

"Don't worry, TARDIS! I like the way things are in here. It's way more fun digging through piles to see what all is here. Although," she turned to the Doctor, "I could use a hand. I cannot for the life of me find a pair of socks anywhere in here."

"Anything to get you to wear something other than that ridiculous outfit."

"Hey! I like this stuff! It's unique. Like me." that last bit was said under her breath, in the hopes that the Doctor wouldn't hear.

He did. "And me," he added. "I'm pretty unique, too."

Callie smiled. Then she cast her eyes around the room, grimacing when they landed on the celery suit coat. She pointed at it. "What's the story with this one? I'm pretty sure that," she pointed at a dry, moldy stick pinned on the lapel, "used to be celery. I don't know what it is now, and honestly, I'm not sure I want to know." she shuddered.

The Doctor laughed before his eyes landed on the dry stick. He winced. "Oh dear. Seems I forgot about that." He turned back to Callie, who was rummaging in the next drawer down in the bureau, which happened to contain ties. There was an odd one that looked a bit like a ribbon tied in a bow, which he distinctly remembered putting there so he wouldn't wear it again.

"What was it you needed help finding?" he asked distractedly.

"Socks," she called out.

"Try the bottom drawer."

Callie closed the drawer with the ties and opened the bottom one to numerous pairs of sock in every color and size. She grinned.

"Finally!" she yelled triumphantly. "I have located the hidden treasure! The mission is a success!"

The Doctor stared at her oddly and raised an eyebrow. She shrugged.

"What? I've been alone for over 300 years. I have an overactive imagination." she closed the drawer. "Trust me. Where I'm from, every day is an adventure. Some days I'm a pirate, others a princess. It really just depends on the situation and my mood."

"A princess, huh? Are you sure you're really pretending with that one? Or is there something you're not telling me?"

Callie froze, her back toward the Doctor as she gathered her desired clothing items. She slowly turned and stood up, until she was facing him. On her face was an expression of pure shock. When she finally opened her mouth, her voice was low, dangerous.

"Did you open my box?" she asked slowly. This was the voice Callie had used on those teenage boys when they were trying to manipulate the two young boys. It was quiet, yet it conveyed the message that she wasn't afraid to attack if you gave an answer she didn't like.

The Doctor took a step back, surprised at her demeanor. He held his hands up in defense. "No, I didn't look in your box! I'm not even sure where it is, to be quite honest with you."

"Oh." Her voice softened, but her body language didn't change. Her shoulders were raised, and her hands clamped down on her clothing pile so forcefully that her knuckles were turning white. "Then how do you know about me?"

"I did some reading," he answered vaguely. He moved closer.

She took a step back. "Then what do you want?" She asked, her voice shaky. She was terrified, but she tried not to show it.

The Doctor's face softened. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly. "I just want to know why you didn't tell me the whole truth."

"Because every person I've ever told has tried to hurt me in some way," she replied quietly. "I was going to tell you eventually. I just wanted to be sure that I could trust you first."

"Who tried to hurt you?"

"It's a long story."

I've got time."

Callie bit her lip, debating internally whether to tell him the entire story or not.

"Whatever you tell me will not go beyond the walls of the TARDIS. It will stay between us," he added. "I can protect you from anyone who is trying to hurt you. I just want to help. Please?"

Callie's eyes bore into the Doctors as she tentatively took a step into his head, trying to gauge whether or not he was telling the truth. She found sincerity in his words. She retreated out of his head, sighing.

"Just let me get cleaned up first."

ooOOoo

Thirty minutes later, Callie had showered, changed clothes, and braided her hair back to keep it out of her face. The violet dress she had found fit her better than expected, and Callie made a mental note to return to the wardrobe at a later date to see if there were any more dresses like this in different colors.

"All right TARDIS, where is the Doctor?" she asked the sentient ship.

A small nudge sent her down a different hallway and toward an archway that led into what looked like a vast library. The Doctor was in there, reading a large tome in an armchair next to a crackling fireplace. Callie smiled in spite of herself. The Doctor looked at home here in this surprisingly domestic scene. She cleared her throat, and the Doctor looked up at her.

She was holding her wooden box in her hands. Around her neck, clearly visible, was a black heart pendant made of smooth stone. The Doctor wondered how he hadn't noticed that before. She walked over and sat on a sofa near the fireplace, pulling her legs underneath her. The Doctor stood and sat next to her, mimicking her movements. He silently handed her the book he had been reading.

"The Rise and Fall of Mavri Petra." Callie read the title aloud. She looked up at the Doctor. "This is how you knew."

He nodded. "I was reading in the section about Petran government and found some… interesting information. You never told me that Mavri Petra was a monarchy."

"It didn't seem relevant at the time," she replied. "I've always told people my parents were government officials. It's not exactly a lie."

"True," he conceded, "but it's not exactly the truth either."

Callie nodded. "What do you want to know? I'll answer any question you ask."

"Who are you really? I want to hear it from you, not from a book."

Callie opened her box and pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper. She unwrapped it, being sure to hide the contents from the Doctor's view. She took a deep breath.

"My name is Calliope Alithea Lykaios, crown princess, heir to the throne, and sole surviving member of the empire of Mavri Petra," she recited. She pulled a delicate, silvery tiara out of the brown paper wrappings and put it on her head. It was beautifully ornate, made of thin silver with crystals sprinkled throughout. Truly fit for a princess.

"My parents named me for the traits they hoped I would acquire. Calliope means 'one with a beautiful voice', and Alithea means 'truth'. But my favorite part of my name was Lykaios. That means 'wolf'. I always imagined that there was a wolf somewhere out there protecting me and my family. I still do."

Callie was silent for a few minutes. She pulled another object from her box, this time a photo frame. She handed it to the Doctor. There was a picture of a small family, a mother and father and a young girl.

"That's my family, my parents and I. That picture was taken on my birthday." She sniffed.

"My parents really weren't supposed to have me. I didn't lie about that. There was a law against it. But since they were royalty, there wasn't really anything anyone could do about it. People were aware of my existence. But they were angry about it. There were riots in the street, protesting the old laws, because of me." There were tears running down Callie's face.

"My parents were reluctant to ever let me out of their sight, because of the danger I was in. People were hurting others to try and get to me. So my parents did the only thing they could. They sent me away for my own safety. And less than a week later, the entire planet erupted into civil war. Because of me." Callie choked back a sob. "My entire planet is gone, my entire species dead, because my parents ignored a long-standing law and had me. It's my fault they're gone. It's all my fault."

The Doctor pulled Callie into his arms as she sobbed. The tiara fell off her head onto the arm of the couch, where it sat as a silent reminder of what she had lost. He held her as she cried into his shirt, stroking her hair to try and calm her. He could only imagine how long she had harbored this guilt, how long she had kept this all deep inside, hidden from view.

Eventually, Callie's sobs turned to hiccups, before she quieted completely. The Doctor still held her, offering silent comfort. They sat in silence a few minutes longer.

"It isn't your fault," he whispered quietly.

"What happened to you isn't your fault either," she replied softly.

The Doctor stiffened when he realized what she was referring to. "How did you know?" he asked.

"I heard stories. The great and powerful Doctor, the one who ended it all. People talked about you like you were some sort of god." she chuckled dryly. "I think I was the only one who realized what you really were."

"And what am I?"

"Alone."

Silence fell upon the two once more. Eventually, Callie's breathing evened out, signaling to the Doctor that she had fallen asleep. He held her closer, this girl, this child who had been left alone to fend for herself. He wouldn't let that happen again. The Doctor sighed. It seems they both had quite a bit of healing to do. But maybe, just maybe, they could heal each other. The Doctor's eyes slid closed as he thought. After only a few minutes, he felt himself drift off to sleep, lulled into slumber by the sound of Callie's heartbeat.

 **A/N: So I got a burst of inspiration last night and this came out of it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! I have this headcanon that the TARDIS picks out what each incarnation of the Doctor wears and she has it all organized. She just puts the items he's going to wear in with the rest of the wardrobe after he regenerates to make him think he chooses. :) I tried to add something that each of the Doctors wore, even the 13th. I didn't include anything from the War Doctor, though, because I don't think the Doctor kept those clothes. He would've gotten rid of them with everything else that reminds him of that incarnation. Please review and let me know what your favorite part of this story is! Also, just because you get an extra chapter doesn't mean I won't be posting another on Sunday. And now, I must bid you adieu. Allons-y!**


	7. Chapter 6: Off to London

**A/N: Guys… I suck.**

 **I'm so sorry that I left this story here for so long without updating it! The Fountain of Inspiration decided to only grant me ideas for my other story arc, Downpour, and not this one. But I'm back on track now. I'm really excited about the chapter after this one. We're gonna get into some fun stuff! Have some cookies for waiting so patiently (or even if you were impatient, you still deserve a cookie). (::) (::) (::) Enjoy!**

 **Oh, and one little note: the Doctor calls Callie "Princess" in this chapter, but it's not a nickname; it's her title. Just to clarify. And I don't own Doctor Who. But how cool would it be if I did?**

Callie couldn't remember the last time she had slept this long. She liked being in constant motion, due to the fact that the longer she stood still, the greater the chance she had of being recognized and followed. As such, she only slept a for few hours at a time, and never at the same time of day. She didn't want to develop a routine because routines were trackable. It was a miracle in and of itself if she managed to sleep for four or five hours straight every couple of days.

So when Callie woke up after sleeping for eight hours (and a couple more hours before that, when she'd had her headache), she felt more rested than she had in decades. She sat up and stretched. She remembered falling asleep, but what she didn't remember was the room she was in.

The walls of the room were a lovely light purple color, almost the same color as her leggings. She was sleeping in a soft queen bed with a fluffy, deep purple comforter spread over it. The large room was filled with dark wood furniture as well, taking up much of the space. There was a dresser, a vanity, a bookcase, a chair for reading… Callie liked it very much, as it made her feel like she was in a small space much like the ones she was used to. It seems the TARDIS was able to figure out her favorite color as well.

There were three doors in the room, each on a different wall. Her bed was pushed up against the one wall without a door. She slid out of bed and approached the door across from her bed, opening it. It led out into the hallway. She turned and walked toward a different door, this one to the right of the bed. This one led into a bathroom, almost identical to the one she had showered in before. The last door was a closet. Callie smiled when she several dresses hanging inside not unlike the one she was currently wearing in many different colors.

She then turned to investigate the other furniture in the room. She opened the drawers of the dresser to find more leggings, underwear, jeans, jackets, and socks (she thanked the TARDIS profusely for those). But she laughed out loud at the contents of her bottom drawer. Inside were all the funny items she had found and put on in the wardrobe room.

The bookcase was filled with titles of all sorts. There were fairy tales, mysteries, adventure stories… plenty to keep her occupied should she ever get bored here (although she considered the prospect of that happening to be extremely low). The most prominent one was the book the Doctor had shown her earlier about her home planet: _The Rise and Fall of Mavri Petra_. She supposed he must have put it there. She pulled it from its spot on the shelf and plopped down into the chair next to the bookcase, flipping it open and turning to the section on Petran royalty.

 _After assuming the throne at age 21, King Cadmus Lykaios V married his childhood sweetheart, Agathe Lillis, at age 23, despite her telepathic abilities and the fact that she was merely twenty at the time. Many people considered this to be scandalous, as nearly every Petran King and Queen before him had taken a non-telepathic spouse. For his spouse to be telepathic meant that the King and Queen would have to adopt an heir, as the law forbade offspring from being had when both parents were telepathic. However, not more than a year after that, the Queen was discovered to be pregnant with their first child._

 _The non-telepathic population of Mavri Petra was outraged at the blatant disregard of the longstanding law. A meeting of the High Council was called to decide what to do about the situation. While they too were angered at the King and Queen's ignorance, it could not be ignored that this scenario provided an heir to the throne, and as such had to be treated differently than other similar cases. Instead of removing the child from the home, as was the usual protocol, they allowed the King and Queen to raise their child, with the stipulation that he or she be required to undergo treatments to stunt his or her telepathic growth. They agreed, with the condition that the treatments not start until he or she had reached the age of 5. The Queen gave birth to her child, a girl, naming her Calliope Alithea Lykaios._

 _When the population heard the High Council's ruling, they were incensed. Riots were held in front of the royal family's place of residence, and several attempts were made on the infant princess's life, sparking stricter security practices and an increase in members of the royal guard. By the time the Princess had reached age 5, the entire population of Mavri Petra had split in two, with the telepaths and the non-telepaths refusing to peacefully coexist._

 _At this time, the King and Queen were sent the treatments to administer to their young daughter to stunt her already impressive telepathic development. It was later discovered that the treatments were never administered, making the young princess the most powerful telepathic being on Mavri Petra._

 _By the time the princess had reached the tender age of six, the entire Petran population was on the brink of civil war. The High Council had issued a curfew and hired sentinels to patrol the streets at all hours to enforce the said curfew and keep the peace. In the final days before the war, the crown princess went missing. There are several stories and legends that say the princess was smuggled off the planet before it's untimely demise and lives on even to this day, but there is no way to verify these tales._

"If only you knew... " Callie muttered under her breath.

"Found the book I left for you, then?" the Doctor stood in her doorway, leaning against the frame.

"So this is how history remembers me..." She smiled bitterly, closing the book and sliding it back into its designated slot on the bookshelf. "Even as a baby, they all wanted me dead."

"It's not your fault," he reminded her. "The fault lies with the government of your planet. They're the ones who enacted that law in the first place."

"I know," she replied. "It still hurts, though."

The Doctor nodded in understanding. "Are you hungry?" he asked, changing the subject. "You haven't eaten since… I don't think I've seen you eat at all, and I've been around you for nearly two days."

"I'm starving," she replied. Her stomach growled loudly, seconding her answer.

The Doctor laughed. "Well, it seems your stomach agrees with you. Let's see if we can't find you something to eat."

He and turned around and began to walk down the hallway, gesturing for her to follow him.

ooOOoo

Callie was seated on the jumpseat in the console room, a ham sandwich in one hand and a banana pudding cup in the other. The Doctor was working on something under the console. He hadn't yet noticed that Callie had abandoned eating in the kitchen and had come to keep him company instead. She casually took a bite of her sandwich, wondering what would happen if she were to shout when he wasn't expecting it…

"Hey, Doctor!" she shouted.

Callie heard a large bang and heard the Doctor shout, "Ow!"

"Are you okay down there?" she shouted cheerfully.

The Doctor's head emerged from beneath the console grating. "What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head.

"Nothing," she replied. "Just wanted to see how you'd react." She turned up one corner of her mouth in a quirky little smile that the Doctor found adorable. Then, he noticed something that made him frown.

"Are you eating one of my banana puddings?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" she asked, tearing the top off the pudding cup.

"The banana ones are my favorite! Why couldn't you have chosen a chocolate one?" he lamented.

"Cause the chocolate ones aren't as good as the banana ones." She stuck a spoon into the cup, trying hard not to giggle at the Doctor's horrified expression. Eventually, she lost her battle and burst out laughing.

"Really Doctor, It's just a pudding cup! You can buy more." She stuck the pudding-filled spoon in her mouth.

"It physically hurts, watching you eat that." He put one hand over his hearts and the other on his forehead. "I think I'm feeling a little faint."

"Don't be such a drama queen," she teased, waving her spoon in his direction before going for another spoonful of pudding.

"You don't understand, Callie. The banana is the greatest of all fruits. Entire ecosystems have been destroyed to cultivate it. They don't have them on any other planet besides Earth. Sure, there are pudding cups on all sorts of planets, but the only place to get banana pudding is on Earth." He explained.

"Wow. You really love bananas, don't you?" Callie asked with a smirk.

The Doctor had an exasperated look on his face. "Really? That's all you took away from that?"

"Pretty much, yeah." The pudding cup was nearly empty now. Callie scooped the small amount that remained into her spoon stuck it into her mouth, slowly removing it just to taunt the Doctor.

"Mmm… that's good pudding." She smiled sweetly at him.

"Ohh, Princess…. You're going to regret doing that," he said. "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday, I will make sure you regret eating my banana pudding." He was completely serious.

"Whatever you say," Callie shrugged. She placed the remains of the pudding cup on the jumpseat next to her, hopping off it. "What were you doing down there, anyway?" she gestured to the grate under the console.

"Just checking something. The TARDIS has been acting rather tetchy lately. I can't figure out why." He scratched his head.

"Maybe she has indigestion," Callie suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised. She has you living inside her."

"And you now, as well," he reminded her. "Maybe it's you who's giving her indigestion."

"Who, me?" she gasped, scandalized. "I would never give anyone an upset stomach. I'm too sweet."

The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. "Right then. Maybe taking her for a spin will set her right." He moved to the console and began pulling a few levers. "The only question is, where should we go?"

Before Callie could give an answer, the TARDIS began to violently shake, throwing both of them to the ground.

"What did you do?" Callie shouted, holding onto the edge of the jumpseat for support.

"I didn't do anything! She's doing this on her own!" The Doctor yelled back.

The shaking stopped. Once the Doctor had regained his footing, he walked over to where Callie had ended up and offered her his hand, pulling her to her feet. He glanced at the display, trying to get a reading as to where they were.

"Does this sort of thing happen often?" Callie asked, dusting off her dress.

"It's not uncommon," he replied, taking in the coordinates.

"Well, where are we?" she asked.

The Doctor turned to her. "On Earth. London, to be exact. The date is," he squinted, "March 26, 2005. And we're in front of a department store called Henrik's. Hello, what's this?" He took a closer look. "I'm detecting extraterrestrial activity here. Let me do a scan."

He pressed a few buttons and a picture of a big, gooey puddle came onto the screen. Callie wrinkled her nose.

"Gross. What is that thing?"

"That, my dear Princess, is the Nestene Consciousness. Seems it's acting up again. I suppose we ought to pay it a visit." He began rummaging through his pockets, trying in vain to locate something.

"What does the Nasty Contentious do?"

"Nestene Consciousness, Callie. It's a hive mind, a singular entity, with the ability to possess plastic. Anything plastic here in London, or anywhere on Earth really, has the ability to be possessed by the consciousness." The Doctor gave up on searching his pockets and went below the console again. Callie could hear him moving and shifting things around.

"So, what, are all the water bottles in the London area are suddenly going to retaliate against their owners?" She didn't think this consciousness thing sounded like much of a threat.

"Aha!" the Doctor shouted. Callie saw his head pop up once more from below the grate. "I found it!"

"What did you find?" she asked.

"Anti-plastic!" he said triumphantly. He held out a test tube full of dark liquid. "The only thing that is effective enough to shut down the consciousness. This stuff dissolves plastic faster than acid. I'm hoping we won't need it though. I want to try talking to it before we do anything else."

Callie started. "You keep liquid that dissolves plastic under the console with all of the wires and important stuff that happen to be coated in plastic?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, then closed it again. "I suppose that wasn't my best idea, was it?"

"No. No, it wasn't," She replied.

"Nevermind that." He shoved the vial into his pocket, where it disappeared immediately. Callie supposed his pockets must be bigger on the inside, much like the TARDIS.

The Doctor held his hand out to Callie. "Shall we, Princess?"

"Is it safe?" she asked.

"Probably not," he answered honestly.

She grinned and took his hand. "Good."


End file.
